As most football fans will know the scope of the Ballon d’Or, originally the award given to the European Footballer of the Year was extended last year to become the FIFA Ballon d’Or which is now awarded to the player considered by both FIFA and UEFA to be the best in the world.
The 2010 Ballon d’Or was awarded to Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Argentina, who had also won the final Ballon d’Or in 2009 and is again among the 23 players named this week in this year’s FIFA Ballon d’Or shortlist.
Eric Abidal (France), Sergio Aguero (Argentina), Karim Benzema (France), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Dani Alves (Brazil), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Diego Forlan (Uruguay), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Muller (Germany), Nani (Portugal), Neymar (Brazil), Mesut Ozil (Germany), Gerard Pique (Spain), Wayne Rooney (England), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), Luis Suarez (Uruguay), David Villa (Spain), Xabi Alonso (Spain), Xavi (Spain).
This list will be shortened to just three names on December 5th with the result being announced in Zurich on January 9th 2012.
Despite being regarded as the best league in the world, the Premier League has received only four nominations and one of them is the recent arrival to the league at Manchester City, Sergio Aguero. The other three are Wayne Rooney and Nani, both of Manchester United and Luis Suarez of Liverpool. In fact, Rooney is the only English player among the 23!
Needless to say, the nominations have a huge bias towards attacking players, with only two defenders, Eric Abidal and Danny Alves and one goalkeeper, Iker Casillas, making the shortlist.
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